HUEYTOWN, Alabama -- Hueytown Police Chief Chuck Hagler said residents who live in unincorporated pockets surrounded by the Hueytown city limits shouldn't expect service from the Police Department even though the Jefferson County Sheriff's Office is reducing services because of budget cuts.

Hagler said last week there are several pockets or "islands" of unincorporated houses and properties within the corporate limits of Hueytown that the sheriff's office serves.

He warned City Council members those residents may start calling Hueytown police due to slow response times by the sheriff's office.

"With the county reducing services, we need to tell those people we're not going to come," Hagler said.

The sheriff's office announced last week it would no longer respond to traffic accidents. Between 5,000 to 6,000 wrecks worked by deputies annually will now be turned over to state troopers, Sheriff Mike Hale said.

The sheriff's office has been cut about $3 million in the last quarter of this fiscal year in order to help the county balance its budget after the loss of occupational tax revenue.

Hale also said he plans to reduce his employees to a 32-hour work week -- a 20 percent pay cut -- to make up for the reduction.

"Certainly response times will be slower, and there will be less deputy sheriffs on the streets," Chief Deputy Randy Christian said. "We will prioritize the calls we respond to, and some reports will simply have to be taken over the phone."

Christian said the department isn't obligated to respond to traffic wrecks but did so out of courtesy. "We do not have that luxury any more," he said.

In addition to unincorporated portions of Hueytown, the sheriff's office patrols and answers calls in cities, towns and communities throughout western Jefferson County, including Sylvan Springs, McCalla, Concord and Oak Grove. The department also aids smaller police departments such as Lipscomb and Brighton.

Christian said if nothing is resolved financially by Oct. 1, the office could be facing the layoff of about 150 deputies.

"Chief Hagler and other area chiefs will tell you we are their safety net," Christian said. "Together with these police departments, we have done a formidable job fighting crime and keeping communities safe. It appears politicians that decide how our tax dollars are spent have put an end to that."

Christian laid the blame at the feet of Sen. Scott Beason, R-Gardendale. Beason blocked what would have been a Senate vote on establishing limited home rule, something Jefferson County officials hoped would allow them to raise additional revenue to avoid a $50 million budget shortfall.

"He has single-handedly shut down Jefferson County," Christian said. "I really don't know how he sleeps. I certainly can't because our ability to protect our people has been devastated."

'Finite resources'

Hagler said some residents living in the unincorporated pockets decided against annexing into Hueytown in the past. It would be unfair to use city resources to answer the calls of people who don't pay taxes in the city, he said.

"Some people operate under the assumption they are going to take care of us, no matter what," Hagler said. "We're not. It's not out of meanness. We have finite resources just like everyone else."

Hagler said Hueytown police could be dispatched on life-threatening issues but would not handle minor offenses.

"If it is a life-and-death situation, if someone calls and says my parents are having a domestic dispute and one of them has a knife, we're going to go and make sure everything is OK, but we're not going to take a report," he said. "We'll call the sheriff's department, and when they get out there, that is between them and the sheriff's deputies."